Crime Stoppers Stats Impressive

No, we're not talking about the publicity campaign for a new restaurant or hotel.

It's a list of some of the paraphernalia that helps get Broward County Crime Stoppers' telephone number -- 954-493-8477 -- before the public.

Crime Stoppers has been helping Broward's various law enforcement agencies catch criminals since 1981. It has been headed by Commander John L. Grimes of the Broward Sheriff's Office since 1998.

"We measure success by the statistics," Grimes said. "Last year, we assisted in solving 13 homicides, caused the arrest of 244 people and recovered $936,000 in drugs, cash or property."

During its lifetime, the countywide program has helped in the recovery of $30 million in property, more than $325 million in seized narcotics and had a role in getting nearly 8,000 people arrested.

Capt. Deborah Berry, Sheriff's Office District 8 chief who once headed Crime Stoppers, said her Weston-area department uses the service a lot.

"We get anonymous complaints on narcotics in an area and we respond to that," she said.

"I was in the unit for a couple of years a long time ago," Berry said. "We really got a lot of good information. People are afraid of retribution, so to do it anonymously is the perfect way to do it."

Arrests are important to those who call Crime Stoppers because callers are paid only when a suspect is arrested through information they provided. Payment is based on arrest, not conviction.

Grimes says Crime Stoppers is a highly successful partnership among the media, members of the public and law enforcement.

"Ninety percent of all crimes are solved by public assistance," he said.

With Crime Stoppers, of course, it's all done anonymously.

The program is run by the Sheriff's Office and a voluntary board of 35 people responsible for the raising and administering of funds.

All rewards, advertising and paraphernalia are paid for by the board, which raises money by soliciting donations from local businesses and individuals. The Sheriff's Office pays Grimes' salary, provides office space and pays four part-time "phone specialists" who take the calls and are housed in sheriff's Public Safety Building in Fort Lauderdale.

Grimes said the specialists receive more than 20 calls a day. Each person who calls in a tip is given a number. Names are never taken. At the end of the month, callers can call back to find out if their information led to an arrest.

Grimes presents cases to the board on the fourth Monday of each month, recommending which of the anonymous callers should be paid and how much, depending on the validity of the information provided. A tipster may be paid up to $1,000.

Once the amount of the reward is established, callers, who have been told to call again at a particular time, are told at which designated bank they can pick up their reward. All they need is the number. They are paid in cash.

Grimes said 60 percent of the callers get some kind of reward.

The Sheriff's Office uses Crime Stoppers a lot, according to public information officer Kirk Englehardt.

"Crime Stoppers is an automatic thing for us," he said. "Whenever I write a media release, I put the Crime Stoppers number automatically at the bottom."

Englehardt said he also uses Crime Stoppers for detectives who have come to a dead-end in a case. He said he unabashedly uses television, newspapers and radio to get the word out on as many cases as possible.

The program often works. He cited a May 11 burglary at an elementary school. The burglars were caught on surveillance cameras and their photos were released to the news media. Two suspects were identified the same day by anonymous callers to the Crime Stoppers hot line. One suspect was arrested less than two weeks later. Days after that, the stolen property was returned to its rightful owners.

Grimes said the program has gotten so successful that it's branching out into other areas, including taking anonymous tips for deadbeat parents, student crime stoppers and even illegal tire dumping.

Many times, Grimes said, "bad guys call with tips just to get ahead of the competition. But most call us because it's the right thing to do."